Hispanic Public Relations Blog

In trying to understand the Hispanic population in the U.S., knowledge of the Mexican and Mexican-American population is essential.  Despite our country’s many Latino ethnicities, the influence of Mexico remains stronger than any other country.

More than six in ten U.S. Hispanics are of Mexican origin.  The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that there are nearly 30 million Hispanics of Mexican origin living here.  After Mexicans, the other nine largest Hispanic groups make up only a third of U.S. Hispanics.

Mexican-Americans are often assumed to be immigrants, and for good reason: no other country in the world currently has as many immigrants in total as the U.S. has from Mexico alone.  The current amount of Mexican immigrants living in the U.S. (32%) is the highest concentration of immigrants in the U.S. from one country since the late 19th century, when the Irish made up a third of the country’s immigrant population.

Yet, contrary to popular belief, the majority of Mexicans in the U.S. are native-born.  In fact, Mexican-Americans have one of the lowest rates of foreign birth of all Latinos; less than 40% are born outside the U.S.

In contrast to the stereotypes about their legal status, Mexicans also have one of the highest citizenship rates among Latinos (68%).   The number of naturalized U.S. citizens from Mexico rose by 144% from 1995 to 2005–the sharpest increase among immigrants from any major country.

Mexican-Americans are also the youngest part of an already young demographic.   The average age for Latinos is already ten years younger than the average American, and Mexican-Americans are the youngest of all Hispanics in the U.S. (25 -years -old on average).

As for earnings, the average income for Mexican-Americans ($40,000) ranks in the mid-range for Latinos.  Colombians tend to earn the most of all Latinos, averaging $49,000 a year, while those of Caribbean ancestry, Dominicans and Puerto Ricans, tend to earn the least, though still above $30,000 a year.

Despite being in the middle range for income, the homeownership rate for Mexicans is well above that of other Latino ethnic groups. The majority of Mexicans are homeowners (51%).

As you might expect, the center of the Mexican population is in the Southwest: nearly 40% of those of Mexican ancestry live in California; 25% in Texas.  However, their numbers have been growing in other regions, such as the Midwest: a Chicago Council on Global Affairs study recently showed that the Mexican population in the Midwest is growing 10 times as fast as the overall population of the region.

The majority of Mexicans report speaking English proficiently, 59%.  They have one of the highest rates of English proficiency among Latinos, with only Puerto Ricans outranking them.  At the same time, only about 20% of Mexicans in the U.S. report speaking only English at home.

The Mexican population in the U.S. seems like a resource that is constantly renewing itself.  While immigrant families have children who grow up bicultural, new first-generation immigrant families are constantly arriving.   So, Mexican culture becomes increasingly interwoven into American culture while remaining vibrant in its own right.

CNN commentator Tomas Jimenez recently wrote, “We live in a time when America often celebrates its ethnic vibrancy. People who are cut off from an immigrant population of the same ethnic origin…often lament being ethnically bland.  Mexican-Americans, in contrast, don’t have to worry about ethnic blandness…Ongoing Mexican immigration means constant access to the food, language, traditions, popular culture and customs that makes being Mexican-American enjoyable.”

Tags: culture, Hispanic, HispanicPR, immigrant, Latino, Mexican, Population

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